2006 – Rarity Round-up

JANUARY

January got off to a slow start, however star bird was the wintering Humes Warbler at Marden (Northumberland). By mid-month there was a Rough-legged Buzzard near Tindale Tarn in Cumbria. This was a pale bird, which gave nice views at times. Next up was a drake Ring-necked Duck at Grasmere ( Cumbria) found by a friend of mine, who was holidaying in the area. This was later followed by a Grey Phalarope on Lake Windemere! My last rare bird of the month was a drake American Wigeon at Westfield Point ( Cumbria)!

FEBRUARY

February was kicked off quite nicely on the 2nd with my 3rd ever Bonaparte’s Gull. This was one of those really jammy moments – I entered the hide at Lunan Bay (Angus) to be greeted by local birder Bob who alerted me to the gull (he was certain was the very elusive Bonaparte’s Gull that had been seen in the area a few weeks earlier). The bird was a superb adult winter plumaged bird! The next scarcity was on the 19th in the form of a Black Redstart on Kirkbride Airfield ( Cumbria). My last rarity of February was a superb adult Laughing Gull at Ardrossan (Ayrshire), this was my 10th Laughing Gull overall but my first in Scotland!

MARCH

March got off to a pleasant start on the 4th with another visit to Ardrossan to see the Laughing Gull again. A fairly confiding Great White Egret gave me nice views on Skinburness Marsh and Silloth Airfield ( Cumbria) on the 17th.

APRIL

April got off to a slow start, with the first rarity of the month being a superb drake King Eider in Irvine Harbour (Ayrshire) on the 14th. Then a few days later on the 17th I made a slight detour to St Mary’s Island (Northumberland) to see a drake Blue-winged Teal, only the second one I had ever seen! A good view of my 4th Arctic Redpoll at Aberlady Bay (Lothian) was a pleasant bonus! A Hoopoe was also a nice bonus at Walney Island NR. The only other scarcity was the drake Green-winged Teal at North Plains RSPB reserve ( Cumbria).

MAY

I managed excellent views of a 1st summer Buff-breasted Sandpiper at Aberlady Bay (Lothian) on the 5th. This bird was very confiding. A superb 1st summer male Woodchat Shrike put in an appearance for me at Torver Common ( Cumbria) on the 12th, this bird also gave really good views. A Great Reed Warbler at Forfar (Angus) loch was only my 2nd! The drake Blue-winged Teal that was formally in Northumberland gave me reasonable views at Arthuret Ponds ( Cumbria) on the 17th. On the 18th I got nice views of one of the Black-winged Stilts at Martin Mere ( Lancashire) whilst heading south for our spring holiday. A nice but brief view of the Iberian Chiffchaff at Challacombe Farm ( Devon) was a welcome lifer. On the 31st I got good views of a superb adult Purple Heron at Collage Reservoir ( Cornwall).

JUNE

On the 8th June I managed some views of the apparent Cayenne Tern at Cemlyn Bay ( Anglesey). The following day I had reasonable views of a Red-necked Phalarope at the same site. Also during June was a reasonable view of another Great White Egret at Bassenthwaite Lake ( Cumbria).

JULY

July started with a dearth of birds until the 9th when I went across to Saltholme Pools (Cleveland) to see my first Semipalmated Sandpiper. Then I jammed in on a 1st summer Stilt Sandpiper at Conwy RSPB reserve (Conwy) another lifer!

AUGUST

August began with my 4th White-rumped Sandpiper. This bird was giving reasonable views at Seaton Snook (Cleveland). A White-winged Black Tern was giving nice views at Big Waters NR (Northumberland) on the 6th. Amazingly I managed views of another White-rumped Sandpiper at East Chevington (Northumberland) on the 19th. The only other rarities during August were drake Ring-necked Duck and drake Ferruginous Duck at Loch Gelly ( Fife).

SEPTEMBER

The first rarity of the month was a superb adult Bonaparte’s Gull at Newbiggin-by-the-sea (Northumberland) on the 10th. This bird gave excellent views on the beach. A trip to Holy Island for Red-backed Shrike also produced Wryneck and a self-found Common Rosefinch. The White-rumped Sandpiper seen the previous month was also still present at East Chevington on the same day. Also on the 10th was the wandering Great White Pelican was also present on Cresswell Pond (Northumberland) on the 10th. This bird wandered from Germany-Netherlands-Norfolk-Lincolnshire-Lancashire-Cleveland-Northumberland-Angelsey during the summer! The only other scarcity I observed during September was an adult Pectoral Sandpiper at Cresswell Pond.

OCTOBER

October got off to an immense start with my 2nd ever Roller on the 8th. This bird was a superb 1st year bird. The bird was very elusive at first, but eventually gave really good views. On the 18th I managed excellent views of a Two-barred Greenish Warbler at Filey ( Yorkshire). On the same day whilst watching a Yellow-browed Warbler at Filey Dams, a birder told us that there was a White-rumped Sandpiper on one of the pools. This was my 3rd for the year! A trip to Thorpness ( Suffolk) on the 20th was well worth the drive (thanks Craig!) as we got amazing views of a 1st winter Red-flanked Bluetail (BOU tick 399)! Then into Norfolk to Stubbs Mill, where we saw at least 12 Cranes coming into Roost.. The following day we got good views of a Cattle Egret at Blakeney and another White-rumped Sandpiper at Cley. On the 22nd we got nice views of a juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper.

The last rarity of October was a superb Isabelline Shrike at Cresswell on the 29th.

NOVEMBER

November started with a superb and confiding Glossy Ibis at Pilling ( Lancashire). This was only my second! Then on the 8th was an amazingly late and very short staying Red-rumped Swallow at Port Carlisle ( Cumbria). Highlight of the month was my 400 th BOU tick, a superb drake Barrow’s Goldeneye at Callander ( Forth).

DECEMBER

December was relatively quiet month as would be expected, however highlights would have to be a 1st winter Ivory Gull near Ayr (Ayrshire). This bird gave us the run-around for a bit, but eventually we managed excellent views! This was only my second Ivory Gull (my first for Scotland), though my first one of this age! During the same trip we got excellent views of the long-staying adult Iceland Gull on the River Ayr. Other highlights were the returning female Lesser Scaup at Caerlaverock (Dumfries & Galloway) and more views of the Callander Barrow’s Goldeneye!

OVERVIEW

Although it was a relatively lean year for me for new species, I still saw a fairly impressive amount of rare and scarce species. I was quite pleased to reach 400 (BOU), especially as Barrow’s Goldeneye was the one that got me there!

My total tally for 2006 was a fairly respectable 252 species!